The Library of Congress Integrated Library System or LC
ILS is used to refer to the Library's entire integrated library
management system. It encompasses the LC Database and other databases,
such as the LCSH Master Database. The LC ILS is the larger entity,
which runs on Voyager software, from Endeavor Information Systems,
Inc. The LC ILS is encompasses all of the Library's bibliographic,
acquisitions, and circulation data, as well as separate Voyager
databases for the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically
Handicapped (NLSBPH) and the Handbook of Latin American Studies
(HLAS). The Library of Congress Database or LC Database contains
13 million bibliographic records, over 13 million holdings records,
over 14 million item records, and approximately 6 million authority
records, plus patron records and data for circulation and acquisitions
transactions, vendor records, ledgers, funds, tables, keyword and
other search indexes. The LC Database contains all the data needed
to support the Library's basic operations. The Library of Congress
Online Catalog or LC Online Catalog presents to users data from
the LC Database about all items that LC has, had, or intends to
acquire. The LC Online Catalog contains records for all formats
and their associated holdings and item records, as well as references
and scope notes from authority records. LC authority records can
be accessed via the Web at authorities.loc.gov.
(See question number 4 for more information about LC Authorities.)
This legend is used in OPAC displays: Database Name: Library of
Congress Online Catalog.

LC implemented the Web version of the LC Online Catalog
on August 31, 1999. Z39.50 access is provided via the WWW/Z39.50
Gateway Homepage at: http://lcweb.loc.gov/z3950/gateway.html.
Records retrieved from the LC Online Catalog via Z39.50 do not yet
contain the full MARC 21 character set encodings for diacritics
and many special characters. More information about Z39.50 access
and configuration along with a list of the intersite searches that
LC's Online Catalog supports is available at: http://lcweb.loc.gov/z3950/lcserver.html

Library of Congress authority records are available online
on the Library's Web site at http://authorities.loc.gov.
Known as Library of Congress Authorities, the free online service
allows users to search, display and download name, subject and title
authority records, (including series authority records) in the MARC
21 format for use in local library systems. LC made this feature
available on July 1, 2002. Not included with this release are Z39.50
functionality; the full MARC 21 character set for display and download
of authority data; and the approximately 2,300 subject subdivision
records in the Library of Congress Subject Heading file. LC will
collaborate with Endeavor Information Systems, Inc., our ILS vendor,
to add Z39.50 functionality and these other features in a future
release. LC is eager to hear from users of this feature. Please
send comments to: ils@loc.gov A
PowerPoint presentation on LC Authorities on the Web is available
at: http://lcweb.loc.gov/ils/ala02arv.ppt
The Library's Cataloging Distribution Service (CDS) will continue
to provide full MARC 21 authority records (new, updated, and deleted)
through the MARC Distribution Services (http://www.loc.gov/cds/mds.html),
which are used to update authority files in OCLC, RLIN and many
other vendor services. Also available from CDS is a fee-based service
called Classification Web (http://www.loc.gov/cds/classweb.html),
which provides Web access to Library of Congress Classification
and Library of Congress Subject Headings.

Generally speaking, Cataloging
Distribution Service (CDS) delivery mechanisms and frequency
of product distribution have not changed. In the future, CDS may
identify improvements to their products based on the capabilities
of our new system and will continue to give plenty of advance notice
to their customers. The Library of Congress discontinued distribution
of "in-process" records for books through the MARC Distribution
Services (MDS) at the end of April, 2000. Beginning in May, 2000,
current MDS subscribers for Books All, Books US, Books English,
Books CJK, Books Arabic, and Books Hebrew stopped receiving in-process
records, also known as "preliminary cataloging" or "encoding level
5 records". Although the number of records distributed in an in-process
state diminished over the last several years, their distribution
was discontinued because of procedural changes and recent workflow
adjustments in the Library's allocation of cataloging resources.
The change will not affect the ultimate quantity or quality of LC
records distributed which represent completed cataloging. The one
category of in-process book records that will continue to be distributed
consists of in-process records supplied by the Library's overseas
offices (field 042=lcode).

The LCCN retained the same 12-digit length in the re-structuring
that expanded the year portion to four digits, reduced the prefix
from three to two characters, and eliminated the supplement numbers.
On January 1, 1999, in preparation for the re-structuring, LC discontinued
use of the LCCN suffix/alphabetic identifier and revision date.
More information about the re-structuring of the LCCN is available
at: http://lcweb.loc.gov/marc/lccn.html.

Yes, all the Chinese language records in the LC Online
Catalog have been converted to the pinyin system of romanization.
The Library worked closely with the Research Libraries Group (RLG)
and OCLC, Inc., on the conversion of systematically romanized Chinese
language data from the Wade-Giles system of romanization to pinyin.
OCLC converted 158,000 authority records according to specifications
developed collaboratively by LC, OCLC, and RLG. The converted authority
records were distributed at the end of September 2000 by CDS and
are available in OCLC and RLIN. On October 1, 2000, the American
library community, including LC, OCLC and RLG, began using pinyin
as the standard romanization scheme for Chinese characters in bibliographic
and authority records. RLG completed the conversion of 170,000 LC
bibliographic records in January 2001. OCLC completed the conversion
of all Chinese language CONSER records in May 2001, according to
the same specifications. LC's converted bibliographic and authority
records were made available to CDS customers via the regular distribution
of products and services. A special one-time snapshot file of all
converted name authority records is available from CDS. A full description
of the Pinyin Conversion Project, including background documents,
timeline, and FAQ, is available on the Pinyin
Homepage.

The Library utilizes a variety of tools to make global
changes to MARC 21 records in its database and works closely with
bibliographic utilities to maintain, improve, and share data. LC
does not use the Voyager global heading change feature. Any records
updated are re-distributed, as appropriate. CDS is aware that massive
changes may affect the size of the distributed files and will alert
its customers if there are significant changes in the size of the
files.

ILS implementation affected our cataloging output beginning in
1999, when cataloging staff became members of the various teams
set up to plan for implementing the ILS. The impact became noticeable
in June, as more than 600 cataloging staff received training throughout
the summer, and again in the months following the August 16 activation
of the cataloging module, as staff learned the new system. The Library
had prepared for a drop in production as part of its planning process.
By March 2000, the Library's cataloging production began returning
to a level comparable to the pre-implementation rate. Our strategy
focuses on processing current receipts, including CIPs, to ensure
that the highest priority and most widely held publications continue
to receive timely cataloging. This means that during fiscal year
2000, and likely fiscal year 2001, we will not reduce our remaining
older arrearages of materials at the pace that we have maintained
over the previous several years. During the coming months, we will
be examining ways to overcome the buildup of materials and to continue
reduction of older arrearage items.

Although the Voyager proprietary software allows direct
connections between Voyager sites, it is the Library's policy that
Voyager-to-Voyager connections from other Voyager sites will not
be permitted. The Library of Congress Online Catalog is available
to all users on a 24X7 basis. LC also provides free Z39.50 access
to the LC Database for users on a 24X7 basis. LC has expanded access
via the Web OPAC for external users. LC authority records are available
on a 24X7 basis via LC Authorities, using a Web OPAC interface,
at: authorities.loc.gov. The Library expects to be able to offer
Z39.50 access to authority records in a future release. The Library
has decided to allocate resources in support of its Web OPAC and
its Z39.50 interface, an internationally accepted standard protocol,
rather than support a proprietary interface available to a limited
number of sites. Comments on the Library of Congress Online Catalog,
LC Authorities, or LC's policy on Voyager-to-Voyager connections
should be sent to: ils@loc.gov.

In 2002, the Library began planning for its transition
to the Unicode standard for LC MARC 21 bibliographic, holdings,
and authority records. The Library currently plans to upgrade to
the Voyager with Unicode Release in 2005. In January 2003, the Library's
system vendor, Endeavor Information Systems, Inc., delivered the
first test conversion to the Unicode character set of LC's database.
LC's language experts and technical analysts are involved in testing
and reviewing the Unicode conversion. Part of LC's planning effort
will include the Cataloging Policy and Support Office's review of
LC cataloging policies and workflows to fully implement the Unicode
standard in future MARC bibliographic, authority, and holdings records.
The Cataloging Distribution Service (CDS) will continue to provide
MARC 21 bibliographic and authority records in MARC-8. Once the
Library's data are converted to Unicode, CDS will offer records
in UTF-8, as well as MARC-8. For the present, LC records will contain
only those Unicode characters that are in the MARC 21 repertoire.
LC's implementation of Unicode will provide users with the ability
to save records in MARC-8 and UTF-8 from the LC Database via the
LC Online Catalog (catalog.loc.gov) and LC Authorities (authorities.loc.gov).
A PowerPoint presentation on the implementation of Unicode at the
Library of Congress, is available at: www.loc.gov/ils.